What Is a Cease & Desist Letter?

A Cease & Desist Letter is often times the first step to asking an individual, or a business, to stop an illegal activity. The purpose of the letter is to threaten further legal action if the behavior does not stop.

Minnesota Attorney Aaron Hall on Cease & Desist Letters

Copyright Cease & Desist Letter Template

The following is a Cease and Desist Letter template for those who are looking for a sample form to use as an example. This Cease and Desist Letter is solely for use with copyright infringement (it could be modified for other purposes), and is from the perspective of a Minneapolis attorney writing on behalf of a client whose copyrighted works were being infringed.

Warning: You should not use this Cease and Desist Letter without consulting first with an attorney to ensure that it complies with the law in your jurisdiction. Also, Cease and Desist Letters are best sent by attorneys because they carry more weight when a lawyer writes a letter threatening legal action if someone doesn’t cease and desist illegal conduct.

This law firm represents [CLIENT NAME]. If you are represented by legal counsel, please direct this letter to your attorney immediately and have your attorney notify us of such representation.

We are writing to notify you that your unlawful copying of [CLIENT’S COPYRIGHTED WORK] infringes upon our client’s exclusive copyrights. Accordingly, you are hereby directed to

CEASE AND DESIST ALL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.

[CLIENT NAME] is the owner of a copyright in various aspects of [CLIENT’S COPYRIGHTED WORK]. Under United States copyright law, [CLIENT NAME]’s copyrights have been in effect since the date that [CLIENT’S COPYRIGHTED WORK] was created. All copyrightable aspects of [CLIENT’S COPYRIGHTED WORK] are copyrighted under United States copyright law.

It has come to our attention that you have been copying [CLIENT’S COPYRIGHTED WORK]. We have copies of your unlawful copies to preserve as evidence. Your actions constitute copyright infringement in violation of United States copyright laws. Under 17 U.S.C. 504, the consequences of copyright infringement include statutory damages of between $750 and $30,000 per work, at the discretion of the court, and damages of up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement. If you continue to engage in copyright infringement after receiving this letter, your actions will be evidence of “willful infringement.”

We demand that you immediately (A) cease and desist your unlawful copying of [CLIENT’S COPYRIGHTED WORK] and (B) provide us with prompt written assurance within ten (10) days that you will cease and desist from further infringement of [CLIENT]’s copyrighted works.

If you do not comply with this cease and desist demand within this time period, [CLIENT] is entitled to use your failure to comply as evidence of “willful infringement” and seek monetary damages and equitable relief for your copyright infringement. In the event you fail to meet this demand, please be advised that [CLIENT] has asked us to communicate to you that it will contemplate pursuing all available legal remedies, including seeking monetary damages, injunctive relief, and an order that you pay court costs and attorney’s fees. Your liability and exposure under such legal action could be considerable.

Before taking these steps, however, my client wished to give you one opportunity to discontinue your illegal conduct by complying with this demand within ten (10) days. Accordingly, please sign and return the attached Agreement within ten (10) days to

If you or your attorney have any questions, please contact me directly.

Sincerely,

[NAME]

Attached page:

Copyright Infringement Settlement Agreement

I, ___________________, agree to immediately cease and desist copying [CLIENT’S COPYRIGHTED WORK] in exchange for [CLIENT] releasing any and all claims against me for copyright infringement. In the event this agreement is breached by me, [CLIENT] will be entitled to costs and attorney’s fees in any action brought to enforce this agreement and shall be free to pursue all rights that [CLIENT] had as of the date of this letter as if this letter had never been signed.

Signed:________________________________

Dated:________________________________

attorney Practicing In This Area

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Leave a Public Comment

Rosette ReechDecember 23, 2014, 10:22 pm

Great article for the collections industry. The CFPB takes compliance serious and collection agencies must obey the laws.

Already too exposedOctober 11, 2014, 4:54 pm

My full name, current home address, personal mobile number and email recently all come up in a bundle on a single website (whois) when I google myself, which I do every so often exactly for the reason that I don’t want my personal info to be so easily obtained. I used to own a website domain for my restaurant, which I had bought from Godaddy. I never intended for them to publish, sell or otherwise make available my info to any website. I paid good money for their services from 2005-2009, and now suddenly this happens when my info is completely irrelevant to anyone wanting my old domain. I am now exposed to fraud, identity theft, even burglary or any kind of random abuse really. According to the internet and European law, I can ask google to remove the search results, but I cannot remove the actual info from the website it is hosted on without writing up a cease and desist email to the webmaster responsible for that content. Does anyone know where I can find a cease and desist template regarding personal data protection??

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